Colonel Richard Davies Garnons Williams (15 June 1856 – 27 September 1915) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and Welsh

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who represented ,

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Breck ...

and Newport. He played in the first Wales international rugby union match in 1881. Garnons Williams became an officer in the British Army in 1876, and retired from regular service in 1892, though he continued to serve in a voluntary capacity until 1906. Already aged 58 at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he rejoined the army and was killed in action in 1915.

Early life and family

Richard Garnons Williams was born on 15 June 1856 in Llowes,

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

, the second child of the Reverend Garnons Williams of Abercamlais,

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, and his wife Catherine Frances, the daughter of Fenton Hort, of

Leopardstown Leopardstown (), historically called Ballinlore, is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains. With institutional lands and a large racecourse, it is divided by the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorw ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and sister of

Fenton John Anthony Hort Fenton John Anthony Hort (23 April 1828 – 30 November 1892), known as F. J. A. Hort, was an Irish-born theologian and editor, with Brooke Foss Westcott of a critical edition of '' The New Testament in the Original Greek''. Life He w ...

. Garnons Williams was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford before being prepared for University by private tuition in Wimbledon, Surrey. He then went to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, in October 1874. His siblings were Reverend Arthur, Richard Davies, Captain Aylmer Herbert, Gerald, Katharine Frances Helena, Annabella Mary, Hugh, who died an infant, Mark Penry Fenton, and Mary Elizabeth. Aylmer Herbert joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in 1871 and, after receiving his commission in 1880, served until his retirement in 1902, having reached the rank of captain. He then took command of the training ship HMS ''Cornwall'' until 1904 when he was appointed to command the Lancashire Navy League Sea Training Home at Liscard. He died on 8 February 1916 aged 58. Gerald was married in April 1892 to Minnie Lilian Court, the youngest daughter of Major Henry Court of Iverfarne, Buckinghamshire. Mark Penry was Fleet Surgeon aboard and died when his vessel was wrecked in 1916. Richard Garnons Williams married Alice Jessie Bircham on 8 January 1885. They had a daughter, Barbara, who married Captain Hume Buckley Roderick of the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

on 9 November 1916. Her husband was killed in action on the Western Front in 1917. She was herself serving in France at the time. They also had a son,

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

, who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

and served in the army.

Rugby

After going up to Trinity College, Garnons Williams represented

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

at rugby, but did not win a

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. He played three matches for

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...

in 1880, after he had joined the army: against Manchester Rangers (2 October), Gloucester (4 December), and

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

(18 December). In 1881 he was selected to represent in its first ever match, against on 19 February at Blackheath. The challenge to England came from

Richard Mullock Richard Mullock (3 May 1851 – 1920) was a Welsh sporting administrator and official, who is most notable for organising the first Welsh rugby union international game and was instrumental in the creation of the Welsh Football Union, which bec ...

of Newport, who was not an official of the South Wales Football Union, but wanted to bring Wales up to the same level as the other home nations, rather than settle for playing against English and Irish provincial teams. England, for its part, had recently beaten by two tries and two goals to none, and the previous season had become the first winners of the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy con ...

by beating by three tries and two goals to one goal. The date offered to Mullock by the English

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

(RFU), 19 February, coincided with a match for the South Wales Cup between Llanelli and cup holders Swansea, thereby limiting Mullock's selection options. England won by eight goals to nil. It was Garnons Williams' only appearance for Wales. ;International appearance

Military career

Deciding to follow a military career Garnons Williams was accepted into the Royal Military College Sandhurst, and is also recorded as representing the Sandhurst rugby team. He completed his officer training in 1876, and was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant on 26 February. He was posted to the 38th Regiment of Foot, promoted

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 17 January 1877, and with his army rank (but not regimental seniority) backdated to his original commission as sub-lieutenant, and a month later, on 17 February 1877, transferred to the 7th Regiment of Foot. By February 1885 he had been promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and his unit had been renamed the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). On 10 January 1887 he was appointed

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the 4th Battalion of the regiment, the

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

unit of the regiment. A regular officer was normally given this post in Militia units to organise training and generally maintain standards. His posting lasted the usual 5 years. He then retired from the regular army on 4 May 1892. On 8 August 1894 he was commissioned

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the 1st (Brecknockshire) Volunteer Battalion,

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

, and on 1 November 1895 was appointed brigade major for the South Wales Brigade of the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a Social movement, popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increa ...

. On 12 July 1899 he was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel. He resigned his Volunteer commission on 26 May 1906, retaining his rank and with permission to continue wearing his uniform.

First World War

He rejoined the British Army shortly after the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was posted to his original regiment, joining the 12th (Service) Battalion of the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

as a major on 26 September 1914. He was promoted temporary lieutenant colonel on 3 October 1914, and transferred back to the South Wales Borderers to command the Brecknockshire Battalion. He was later posted back to 12th Royal Fusiliers, and, according to official sources, was killed on 25 September 1915 while leading his battalion at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

. He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing. At 59 years of age, he was the eldest of the 13 Wales international players to be killed during the war. A soldier under the command of Colonel Garnons Williams wrote an account of his commanding officer's death, which puts the date of his death as 27 September. Col Garnons Williams was in temporary command of the 12th Royal Fusiliers when on 25 September he led his battalion in an attack on German trenches. However, the flanks were exposed and on 27 September, Garnons Williams gave the order to retreat. He was at that moment shot in the head from a house nearby. The soldier who gave the account said: "I was very sorry for him, as we could not have had a better, braver officer. He was with us all the time in the front trench, and looked after us as well as he could; no man could have done better. Nobody could get back to him." The following evening, the battalion was relieved, Garnons Williams being declared officially wounded and missing in action, unofficially reported killed.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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